Anna Smyrk Releases Emotional New Single “This Is A Drill”

Naarm/Melbourne-based singer-songwriter Anna Smyrk has released her new single “This Is A Drill,” offering a poignant moment of catharsis for listeners.

Written in the wake of her father’s passing, the track emerges from the profound impact of grief. The song moves from a quiet ache to a raw emotional unraveling, illustrating the unpredictable ways in which loss can affect individuals. Anna Smyrk explains, “This Is A Drill is about not being ready to feel my feelings. It reflects a strange, foggy state of denial, where everything feels a little unreal, as if each day is a rehearsal for the real thing.”

Arriving as a slow-burning indie folk track, the song combines courageously honest lyricism with a tender reflection on how people cope when life cracks open. It is both a whisper and a wail, a confession and a release. Produced and mixed by Anna Laverty (Courtney Barnett, Nick Cave), “This Is A Drill” captures the suspended, dreamlike space between shock and acceptance.

The track was road-tested during the recent Community Garden Tour around Australia, quietly resonating with audiences. Anna Smyrk adds, “People have come to talk after the shows about their own losses. For a song about denial, it seems to offer a sense of release, which I really love.”

KhaborwalaAJ